-w^' 


'^4 

:^*i 


H,  Osgood 


CHRIST  and  the 
Old  Testament 


/. 


:;'«»r* 


r   -*^  JfTSl 


^^F^^ 


8S2S8  7 


waitidd  Ubfary 


CI)mt  ann  tij 
0^  Cestament 


••>/ 


H-ow^rci  05<;;>c:>o<J . 


w  ameia  J^ior ary 


Ct)rtst  anti  t\)t  #lti  Cestament 


31  paper  reati  ^pril  14,  1902,  at 
tlje  reque^eft  of  tije  ^^re^bpterian 
9X^rni^tet^     of     Jliocfje^teir,     tip 


J^otoarli  ©ss^ot) 


V 


"  pt  tbat  l)atl)  rccettoetJ  pi&  tDitness  I)at!)  stt 
J)i6  seal  to  tljis,  tl)at  Sai  is  true.  Jor  |)e 
toJ)om  ®oU  batl)  sent  spcafeetl)  tl)c  tDorUs  of 
(Son."  ^ '-  f  ol)n  3:  33,  3^. 


N  Christ's  day  and  with  His  people  there  was  only  one 
Bible,  the  Old  Testament.  It  was  the  same  book  we 
have  now.  To  all  who  know  and  love  and  reverence 
Christ  as  our  Saviour  God  His  plain  teaching  con- 
cerning the  book  is  of  supreme  importance.  That 
teaching  tests  all  others.  With  a  clear  view  of  the  abundant, 
undoubted  statements  of  Christ  His  disciples  are  provided  with  a 
sure  criterion  of  all  proposed  judgments  on  the  Old  Testament. 
In  the  last  analysis  the  questions  now  agitated  about  the  Old 
Testament  are  reduced  to  the  simple  point,  whether  we  will 
beUeve  Christ's  teaching  or  those  opposed  to  His  teaching.  To 
this  the  European  leaders  of  this  opposite  teaching  are,  as  we 
shall  see,  agreed.  It  is  not  a  question  as  to  how  many  scholars 
are  on  one  side  or  on  the  other.  Nor  does  the  settlement  of  the 
points  raised  depend  upon  a  knowledge  of  Hebrew  or  Greek,  of 
ancient  or  modern  history,  but  simply  and  finally  upon  a  knowl- 
edge of  and  firm  belief  in  Christ's  teaching  or  a  rejection  of  that 
plain  teaching. 

What  is  now  popularly  and  historically  known  as  the  higher 
criticism  of  the  Old  Testament  does  not  merely  concern  Christ's 
teaching  of  the  Old  Testament,  it  far  more  deeply  concerns  the 
deity  of  Christ.  '  If  Christ  was  mistaken  more  than  a  hundred 
times  about  the  very  Bible  He  taught,  it  is  insanity  to  suppose  him 
God  or  taught  by  God. 

It  is  then  of  supreme  importance  to  refresh  our  minds  with 
Christ's  repeated  plain  teaching  concerning  Himself  and  His 
words,  since  He  is  the  One  above  all  others  concerned  in  this 
question  of  the  Bible.  If  He  teaches  with  repetition  throughout 
His  course  that  He  is  God,  and  speaks  only  the  words  of  God ; 
that  He  came  to  earth  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth  and  was  the 
truth  itself,  then  in  His  words  we  have  the  sword  of  the  Spirit  of 
truth,  the  word  of  God.     Let  us  turn  to  the  words  of  Christ. 

It  is  often  asserted  that  Christ  came  slowly  to  a  recognition  of 
His  deity,  but,  from  the  first,  every  year  of  His  ministry  is  marked 
by  His  plain  testimony  that  He  was  God,  as  is  shown  by  the 
following  selections  of  His  most  striking  assertions  of  His  deity 
by  word  and  deed  in  the  order  of  their  occurrence  during  His 
ministry. 


ONL  Y  ONE 
BIBLE 


CHRIST  IS 
GOD 


WITNESS    TO 
HIS  DEITY 


DURING 
FIRST  YEAR 


FOLLOWING 
PERIOD 


LAST  YEAR 


JUST 
BEFORE 
CRUCI- 
FIXION 


During  the  first  year  He  forgave  sins  by  His  own  authority, 
Matt.  9:  3-6;  Mark  2:  5-10;  Luke  5:  20-24. 

He  taught,  "My  Father  worketh  even  until  now  and  I  work," 
John  5:17.  This  the  Jews  understood  as  making  himself  equal 
with  God;  Jesus  did  not  deny  it,  but  justified  it,  John  5:  18-20. 

He  taught  that  "  the  Father  doth  not  judge  any  man,  but  He 
hath  given  all  judgment  unto  the  Son,"  John  5:22,  and  this  Son 
is  Lord  of  the  angels.  Matt.  13:  41,  "  The  Son  of  man  shall  send 
forth  His  angels ;  "  and  that  this  Son  was  to  be  honored  even  as 
they  honor  the  Father,"  John  5:  23  ;  for  He  has  life  in  Himself 
as  the  Father  has,  John  5:  26,  and  like  the  Father  the  Son  gives 
life  at  His  own  will  to  the  dead,  John  5:21,  and  in  the  future  He 
will  raise  all  the  dead,"  John  5:  28,  29. 

In  the  following  period,  Christ  raised  from  the  dead  the  son 
of  the  widow  of  Nain,  Luke  7:  11-17. 

He  forgave  the  sinful  woman's  sins,  Luke  7:  47,  48. 

He  raised  from  the  dead  Jairus'  daughter,  Matt.  9:  25  ;  Mark 
5:  40-42  ;  Luke  8:  54,  55. 

He  taught  that  he  came  down  from  heaven  to  give  and  to  be 
eternal  life  to  those  who  believed  him,  John  6:  27,  38,  40,  51. 

In  the  last  year  Christ  teaches  that  He  is  the  Judge  of  the 
whole  world,  coming  in  His  own  glory  and  in  the  glory  of  the 
Father  and  of  the  holy  angels,  His  angels.  Matt.  16:  27  ;  Mark  8  : 
39 ;  Luke  9:  26 ;  that  He  is  the  eternal  "  I  am,"  "before  Abraham 
was  born  I  am,"  John  8:  58;  comp.  Ex.  3:  15  ;  that  "all  things 
have  been  delivered  unto  me  by  the  Father,"  and  that  the  Father 
alone  knew  the  Son,  and  the  Son  alone  knew  the  Father  and 
revealed  Him  as  He  the  Son  willed,  Matt.  11:  27  ;  Luke  10:  22. 

He  teaches  that  He  gives  to  His  followers  eternal  life,  John 
10:  28,  and  He  says,  "  I  and  the  Father  are  one,"  which  He  justi- 
fies as  meaning  that  He  was  the  equal  of  God,  John  10:  30-38. 
He  asserted  that,  "I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life,"  John  11:  25, 
and  illustrated  that  saying  by  raising  Lazarus  from  the  dead, 
John  11:  44. 

During  the  last  week  before  the  crucifixion,  Christ  again 
teaches  that  He  is  the  Lord  over  the  angels,  "  He  shall  send  forth 
His  angels  and  they  shall  gather  His  elect,"  Matt.  24:31;  that  He 
is  to  be  the  King  on  his  throne  of  glory,  attended  by  all  the  angels, 

4 


the  final  Judge  of  the  whole  world,  Matt.  25:  31-46  ;  that  He  was 
the  Father  manifest  in  visible  form,  "  he  that  beholdeth  me  be- 
holdeth  Him  that  sent  me  ;"  "  he  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the 
Father,"  John  12:  45;  14:  7,  9,  and  to  know  Him  was  to  know  the 
Father,  John  14:  7. 

Christ  declares  that  He  is  the  only  way  of  access  to  the 
Father,  "  I  am  the  way  and  the  truth  and  the  life,  no  one  cometh 
unto  the  Father  but  by  me,"  John  14:  6 ;  that  He  will  send  to  His 
disciples  the  Comforter,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  John  15:  26;  and  that 
He  is  about  to  return  to  the  eternal  glory  which  He  had  with  the 
Father,  John  17:  5. 

After  the  resurrection,  "  He  breathed  on  them  and  saith  unto 
them,  receive  ye  the  Holy  Spirit,"  John  20:  22.  He  gives  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  God  gave  to  Adam,  Gen.  2:  7. 

"  Thomas  answered  and  said  unto  him,  My  Lord  and  my  God. 
Jesus  said  unto  him,  because  thou  hast  seen  me  thou  hast  believed, 
blessed  are  they  that  have  not  seen  and  yet  have  believed."  John 
20:  28,  29. 

"All  authority  has  been  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  on 
earth,"  Matt.  28:  18.  "I  am  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  saith  the 
Lord  God,  who  is  and  who  was  and  who  is  to  come,  the  Almighty." 
"  I  am  the  first  and  the  last  and  the  Living  one,  and  I  was  dead, 
and  behold,  I  am  alive  for  evermore."  Rev.  1:8,  17,  18;  2:8; 
21:6;  22:  13. 

Yet  some  writers  quote  the  following  passages  to  prove  that 
Christ  on  earth  limited  Himself  to  the  restricted  knowledge  of  a 
man  and  therefore  to  possibly  fallible  statements. 

"  Jesus  advanced  in  wisdom  and  stature,"  Luke  2:  52. 

Seeing  a  fig  tree  afar  off  having  leaves,  he  came  if  haply  he 
might  find  anything  thereon,"  Mark  11:  13. 

"  Of  that  day  and  hour  knoweth  no  one,  not  even  the  angels 
of  heaven,  neither  the  Son,  but  thfe  Father  only,"  Matt.  24:  36 ; 
Mark  13:  32, 

"  Who  existing  in  the  form  of  God  counted  not  the  being  on 
an  equality  with  God  a  thing  to  be  grasped,  but  emptied  Himself, 
taking  the  form  of  a  servant,  being  made  in  the  likeness  of  men," 
Phil.  2:  6,  7. 


AFTER  THE 
RESURREC- 
TION 


TEXTS 
MISUSED 


CHRIST 

GOD'S 

PROPHET 


TEACHING 
NOT  HIS 

OWN 


SPOKE 
WHA  T  HE 
HEARD 


SPOKE 
WHA  T  HE 
HAD  SEEN 


But  those  passages  must  be  interpreted  in  harmony  with  the 
far  more  numerous  assertions  of  Christ  that  He  was  a  prophet, 
and  that  God  His  Father  was  the  immediate  author  of  all  His 
words  and  teachings. 

He  calls  Himself  a  prophet,  Matt.  13:  57;  Mark  6:  4;  Luke 
4:24;  11:  50;  13:33,  34;  John  4:  44.  He  was  sent  by  the 
Father.  "  I  am  not  come  of  myself,  but  he  that  sent  me  is  true," 
John  7:  28  ;  8:  42.  He  was  sent  by  God  to  do  His  will.  "  I  am 
come  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do  my  own  will,  but  the  will  of 
him  that  sent  me,"  John  6:  38  ;  5:  30 ;  4:  34 ;  Matt.  26:  39. 

His  teachings  and  His  words  were  not  His  own,  but  the 
Father's.  "  My  teaching  is  not  mine  but  His  that  sent  me," 
John  7:  16.  "The  words  that  I  say  unto  you  I  speak  not  from 
myself,  but  the  Father  abiding  in  me  doeth  His  works ;"  "  the 
word  which  ye  hear  is  not  mine,  but  the  Father's  who  sent  me," 
John  14:  10,  24. 

He  was  sent  by  His  Father  to  speak  the  things  he  heard  from 
his  Father.  "  The  things  which  I  heard  from  Him,  these  speak  I 
unto  the  world;"  "  all  things  that  I  have  heard  from  my  Father  I 
have  made  known  unto  you,"  John  8:  26;  15:  15.  "Ye  seek  to 
kill  me,  a  man  that  hath  told  you  the  truth,  which  I  heard  from 
God,"  John  8:  40.  "I  can  of  myself  do  nothing;  as  I  hear  I 
judge,  and  my  judgment  is  righteous,  because  I  seek  not  my  own 
will  but  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me,"  John  5:  30. 

He  spoke  the  things  He  had  seen  with  His  Father.  "  We 
speak  that  which  we  knov/  and  bear  witness  of  that  which  we 
have  seen;"  "I  speak  the  things  which  I  have  seen  with  my 
Father,"  John  3:  n  ;  8;  38.  He  was  sent  to  teach  and  did  teach 
only  what  His  Father  taught  and  commanded  Him.  "  I  do  nothing 
of  myself,  but  as  the  Father  taught  me,  I  speak  these  things," 
John  8:  28,  "I  spake  not  from  myself,  but  the  Father  that  sent 
me,  He  hath  given  me  a  commandment,  what  I  should  say  and 
what  I  should  speak  *  *  the  things  therefore  which  I  speak, 
even  as  the  Father  hath  said  unto  me,  so  I  speak,"  John  12:  49,  50. 
"  The  words  which  Thou  gavest  me  I  have  given  unto  them ;"  "I 
have  given  them  Thy  word;"  "Thy  word  is  truth,"  John  17:8, 
14,  17- 

6 


Concerning  the  purpose  of  his  whole  ministry  Christ,  just  before 
his  crucifixion,  says,  "  To  this  end  have  I  been  born  and  to  this 
end  am  I  come  into  the  world,  that  T  should  bear  witness  unto  the 
truth.     Every  one  that  is  of  the  truth  heareth  my  voice,"  John  i8: 

37- 

To  sum  up  this  abundant  testimony  of  our  Saviour  God,  the 
Father  abiding  in  Christ,  His  prophet,  spoke  through  Him,  and  the 
words  Christ  spoke  were  the  words  the  Father  taught  Him  and 
commanded  Him  to  speak,  and  His  word  is  truth.  Christ's  words 
and  teachings  are,  by  His  own  repeated  assurance,  God  the  Father's 
words  and  teachings. 

The  Pentateuch  has  for  centuries  been  denied  to  be  true  in 
history  or  fact,  and  if  so  Moses  was  not  the  writer  of  any  part  of 
it.  Against  the  Pentateuch  a  vast  array  of  learning  has  been 
directed.  With  the  Pentateuch  all  the  rest  of  the  Bible  would  fall, 
for  it  lives  in  the  deeds  and  thought  of  the  Pentateuch.  The  book 
of  the  Revelation  is  the  Pentateuch  in  New  Testament  form.  But 
if  the  Pentateuch  stands  by  the  teachings  of  Christ,  the  rest  of  the 
Bible  stands  with  it.  As  an  example  of  Christ's  teaching  concern- 
ing the  whole  Old  Testament,  we  take  His  repeated  plain  state- 
ments about  the  Pentateuch. 

The  supreme  question  about  the  Old  Testament  and  especially 
about  the  Pentateuch  is :  Is  it  true  in  its  statements  of  fact,  in  its 
history  ? 

And  we  first  consult  Christ,  the  Truth,  Who  came  to  bear  wit- 
ness to  the  truth,  in  whose  mouth  was  found  no  guile,  that  is,  no 
craft,  artifice,  deception,  i  Peter  2:  22  ;  Isa.  53:  9.  Let  us  follow 
Him  through  the  Pentateuch. 

He  teaches  that  what  is  said  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis, 
V.  27  ;  5:2,  that  God  created  man  male  and  female,  is  true,  Matt. 
19:  4  ;  Mark  10:  6  ;  that  the  words  spoken  by  Adam  in  Gen.  2:24, 
were  God's  words,  the  supreme  law  of  marriage.  Matt.  19:  5  ;  Mark 
10:  7  ;  that  the  devil  was  a  murderer  and  liar  from  the  beginning, 
as  related  in  Gen.  3:4,  5  ;  John  8:  44  ;  that  Abel  was  a  righteous 
man  and  a  prophet  whose  blood  was  shed  and  would  be  required 
of  that  generation,  Matt.  23:35  ;  Luke  11:51;  that  Noah  lived  and 
entered  into  the  ark  and  the  Flood  came.  Matt.  24:  37-39  ;  Luke 
17:  26,  27. 

7 


WITNESS  TO 
TRUTH 


CHRIST  S 
WORDS 
GOD'S 
WORDS 


CHRIST'S 
WITNESS 
TO  THE 
PENTA- 
TEUCH 


GENESIS 


ABRAHAM 


EXODUS 


LEVITICUS 


NUMBERS 


DEUTERON- 
OMY 


Christ  taught  that  Abraham  was  born  and  that  he  Uved  a  true 
servant  of  God  ;  that  the  Jews  of  Christ's  day  were  His  Uneal 
descendants,  John  8:  37-40,  58  ;  Luke  13:  16  ;  19:9;  that  "Abraham 
rejoiced  to  see  Christ's  day,  and  he  saw  it  and  was  glad,"  John  8: 
56 ;  that  God  said,  Ex.  3:16,  that  He  was  the  God  of  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob,  Matt.  22:32  ;  Mark  12:  26  ;  Luke  20:37  ;  and 
that  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob  were  then  living  "  in  heaven,"  "  in 
the  kingdom  of  God,"  Matt.  8:  11  ;  Luke  13:  28  ;  16:  22-31. 

Christ  taught  that  the  law  of  circumcision  was  given  before 
Moses  as  it  is  related  in  Gen.  17:  9-12,  and  was  repeated,  as  in 
Lev.  12:  3,  by  Moses,  John  7:  22  ;  that  Sodom,  as  related  in  Gen. 
19:  15-26,  was  destroyed  by  a  rain  of  fire  and  brimstone  from 
heaven,  that  Lot  left  Sodom  on  the  day  it  was  destroyed  and  the 
doom  of  Lot's  wife  is  a  warning,  Luke  17:  29-32  ;  10:  12,  Matt. 
10:  15;  11:  23,  24;  that  Jacob's  vision  of  angels  ascending  and 
descending.  Gen.  28:  12,  would  be  repeated  on  the  Son  of  Man, 
John  i:  51. 

Passing  on  to  Exodus,  Christ  teaches,  that  God  did  speak  the 
words  recorded  in  Ex.  3:16  as  the  words  of  God,  Matt.  22:  31,  32; 
Mark  12:26;  Luke  20:37;  that  the  ancestors  of  the  Jews  then 
before  Christ  did  eat  manna  in  the  desert,  as  related  in  Ex.  16:  4- 
35;  John  6:49,  58;  that  God  spoke  the  words  found  in  Ex.  20:  12; 
21:  17;  Matt.  15:  4;  Mark  7:  10;  that  Ex.  20:  12-17  contains  the 
commandments.  Matt.  19:  18,  19;  Mark  10: 19;  Luke  18:  20. 

Of  Leviticus  Christ  teaches  that  Moses,  Lev.  12:3,  repeated 
the  law  of  circumcision,  John  7:22;  that  Moses,  Lev.  14:  2,  ff., 
gave  the  law  of  the  leper,  Matt.  8:  4;  Mark  i:  44;  Luke  5:  14; 
that  in  Lev.  19:  18,  the  second  greatest  commandment  of  God  is 
found.  Matt.  22:  39  ;  Mark  12:  31;  that  the  law  of  Lev.  24:  5-9, 
was  in  force  in  David's  day.  Matt.  12:  3,  4 ;  Mark  2:  25,  26  ;  Luke 

6:  3.  4- 

Of  the  Book  of  Numbers  Christ  teaches  that  the  ancestors  of 
the  Jews  died  in  the  desert.  Num.  14:  29,  32  ;  26:  63-65  ;  John 
6:  49,  58  ;  that  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  desert.  Num. 
21:  8,  9  ;  John  3:  14;  and  that  the  law  of  the  priest's  service  on 
the  Sabbath,  Num.  28:9,  10,  was  a  true  law  for  them,  Matt.  12:  5. 

To  Deuteronomy  Christ  gives  especial  honor  both  in  his  own 
experience  and  in  his  teaching.     In  Deut.  5:  16-20,  He  finds  the 


commandments  of  God;  in  Deut.  6:  4,  5,  He  finds  and  teaches 
the  greatest  of  all  God's  commandments,  Matt.  22:  37  ;  Mark  12: 
29,  30;  in  Deut.  6:  13,  16;  8:  3,  He  found  the  words  that  pro- 
ceeded out  of  the  mouth  of  God  on  which  He  rested  His  soul  in 
His  temptation,  Matt.  4:  4-10  ;  Luke  4:  4-12  ;  in  Deut.  19:  15  He 
finds  the  law  which  He  quotes  in  John  8:  17,  and  Christ  asserts 
that  Moses  wrote  the  commandment  found  in  Deut.  24:  1-4,  which 
was  subordinate  to  the  primal  law  of  marriage  found  in  Gen.  2: 
24,  Matt.  19:  3-8  ;  Mark  10:  35. 

As  to  the  whole  law,  Christ  taught  that  the  whole  law  had 
one  purpose  and  one  fundamental  doctrine,  "  All  things  whatso- 
ever ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  also  unto  them, 
for  this  is  the  law  and  the  prophets,"  Matt.  7:  12.  "Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart  and  with  all  thy  soul  and 
with  all  thy  mind.  *  *  *  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself. 
On  these  two  commandments  the  whole  law  hangeth,  and  the 
prophets,"  Matt.  22:  37-40. 

Christ  taught  that  the  law  was  as  true  as  His  own  words.  He 
said,  "  Till  heaven  and  earth  pass  away,  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall 
in  no  wise  pass  away  from  the  law  till  all  things  be  fulfilled,"  Matt. 
5:18.  "It  is  easier  for  heaven  and  earth  to  pass  away,  than  for 
one  tittle  of  the  law  to  fail,"  Luke  16:17.  Of  His  own  words 
Christ  said,  "  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my  words 
shall  not  pass  away,"  Matt.  24:  35  ;  Mark  13:31  ;  Luke  21:33. 

Christ  taught  that  He  came  to  fulfil  the  law.  He  said,  "  Think 
not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets  ;  I  came  not 
to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil,"  Matt.  5:  17. 

As  to  the  writings  and  deeds  of  Moses,  Christ  teaches  plainly 
that  the  Jews  He  addressed  had  writings  of  Moses  then  in  their 
possession  and  that  these  writings  were  as  true  as  His  own  words, 
John  5:  45-47,  that  the  Jews  then  had  a  book  known  as  the  book 
of  Moses  and  in  this  book,  Ex.  3:  16,  Moses  recorded  God's  words, 
Matt.  22,31,  32  ;  Mark  12:  26  ;  Luke  20:  37. 

These  writings  of  Moses  were  said  by  Christ  to  be  the  suffici- 
ent guide  to  eternal  life  ;  a  more  convincing  witness  to  God's  will 
than  if  one  should  rise  from  the  dead,  Luke  16:  29-31. 

After  his  resurrection  Christ  explains  to  His  disciples  these 
writings  of  Moses,  and  impresses  upon  them  that  these  writings, 

9 


THE    WHOLE 
LAW 


THE  LA  W 
AS  TRUE  AS 
CHRIST'S 
WORD. 


WRITINGS 
OF  MOSES 


MOSES  GAVE 
THE  LAW 


which  they  were  slow  to  believe,  contained  prophecies  of  Himself 
which  had  been  fulfilled  in  His  life  and  death  and  resurrection, 
Luke  24:  27,  44. 

Christ  teaches  that  Moses  gave  the  law  under  which  the  Jews 
then  professed  to  live;  that  Moses  repeated,  Lev.  12:  3,  the  law  of 
circumcision  given  to  the  fathers,  John  7:  19-23  ;  that  Moses  spoke 
the  words,  Ex.  20:  12;  21:  17,  which  God  had  spoken.  Matt.  15:4; 
Mark  7:  9-13  ;  that  Moses  lifted  up.  Num.  21:  9,  the  serpent  in  the 
wilderness,  and  that  Moses  wrote,  Deut.  24:  1-4,  the  permission 
concerning  divorce,  Mark  to:  5. 

Christ's  teaching  is  abundant  and  perfectly  clear. 


HIGHER 
CRITICS 


PENTA- 
TEUCH 
NOT  TRUE 


Let  us  hear  the  other  side,  who  speak  far  more  abundantly 
and  just  as  clearly. 

To  know  all  that  the  higher  criticism  has  to  say  about  the  Pen- 
tateuch one  needs  to  read  only  the  writings  of  its  two  greatest 
leaders,  Kuenen  and  Wellhausen.  But  that  a  fair  and  honest 
average  may  be  had  I  give  what  ten  of  the  more  important  writers 
say,  and  all  the  rest  of  their  school  agree  with  them.  They  shall 
be  Kuenen,  Wellhausen,  Reuss,  Dillmann,  Knappert,  Stade,  Cor- 
nill,  Holzinger,  Smend,  Piepenbring.  They  say  that  the  Penta- 
teuch is  "  legend,  myth,  not  trustworthy,  a  proved  historical  fiction, 
transparent  fiction,  all  confidence  in  it  is  lost."  Kuenen,  accord- 
ing to  his  biographer,  did  not  believe  in  any  God,  and  Wellhausen, 
according  to  his  own  statement,  is  a  polytheist.  But  let  us  take 
the  statements  of  some  higher  critics  who  profess  to  believe  in  the 
supernatural.  They  shall  be  Riehm,  Kittel,  Schultz,  Westphal, 
Konig,  Marti,  Meinhold.  They  say  that  the  Pentateuch  "  is  not 
history,  but  legend,  myth ;  it  was  not,  as  it  professes  to  have  been, 
revealed  by  God  to  Moses,  for  it  is  opposed  to  patent  facts  and  in 
its  teachings  is  contrary  to  the  foundation  of  religion  and  of  course 
it  was  not  given  by  inspiration." 

That  is  real,   straightforward  higher  criticism,  the  only  real 

10 


higher  criticism,  because  it  is  the  inevitable  inference  from  its 
premises. 

On  what  grounds  do  these  learned  men,  scholars  of  high  rank, 
base  their  views  of  the  Pentateuch  and  the  Old  Testament.  They 
tell  us  plainly.  Kuenen  of  Leyden,  professor  of  theology  in  the 
Protestant  university,  secretary  of  the  Hague  Society  for  the 
Defense  of  the  Christian  Religion,  gives  us  fully  his  view  of  the 
"  Critical  Method  "  in  the  "  Modern  Review,"  of  1880.  He  says, 
that  the  critic  "  can  only  give  us  his  own  personal  interpretation 
of  the  image  reflected  in  his  mind,  so  that  almost  everything 
depends  upon  his  own  qualifications  and  the  constitution  of  his 
own  mind.  If  no  congeniality  of  spirit  fits  him  to  interpret  the 
reality,  he  can  scarcely  fail  to  caricature  it,"  p.  469.  Then  he  argues 
that  no  miracle  is  credible,  and  adds,  "  So  long  as  we  derive 
a  separate  part  of  Israel's  religious  life  directly  from  God,  and 
allow  the  supernatural  or  immediate  revelation  to  intervene  in 
even  one  single  point,  so  long  also  our  view  of  the  whole  continues 
to  be  incorrect,  and  we  see  ourselves  here  and  there  to  do  violence 
to  the  well  authenticated  contents  of  the  historical  documents. 
It  is  the  supposition  of  a  natural  development  alone  which  ac- 
counts for  all  the  phenomena,"  p.  585.  And  consequently  the 
critic  "  dares  to  form  a  Conception  of  Israel's  religious  develop- 
ment totally  different  from  that  which,  as  any  one  may  see,  is  set 
forth  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  to  sketch  primitive  Christianity 
in  lines  which  even  the  acutest  reader  cannot  recognize  in  the 
New,"  p.  461. 

That  is  the  opinion  of  the  man  whom  all  European  higher 
critics  regard  as  their  most  learned  leader. 

As  to  the  facts  proving  fiction  which  all  higher  critics  assume 
to  be  found  in  the  Pentateuch  and  Old  Testament,  and  on  which 
they  expend  a  world  of  learning.  Professor  Cornill  of  Konigsberg 
shall  tell  us.  They  are  "  Numerous  parallel,  double,  triple  narra- 
tives, accounts  of  the  same  event,  which  far  from  being  harmoni- 
ous, often  directly  contradict  each  other  ;  further  numerous  errors 
in  dates,  express  statements  of  time  in  certain  narratives  which 
cannot  be  harmonized  with  the  facts  and  with  the  complete  state- 
ment in  other  narratives.  And  above  all,  to  use  Goethe's  words, 
*  the  wretched,  incomprehensible  editing '  of  the  whole,"  Introduc- 

11 


GROUNDS 
OF  THESE 
VIEWS 


THE  FACTS 
ASSUMED 


IV HA  T  IS 
CHRISTIAN 
SCHOLAR- 
SHIP? 


HIGHER 

CRITICISM 

REJECTS 

CHRIST'S 

WITNESS 


tion,  p.  17.  Or,  as  Professor  Gunkel,  of  Berlin,  says,  "The 
clearest  criterion  of  legend  is  that  it  frequently  reports  things 
which  are  quite  incredible,"  "Legends  of  Genesis,"  p.  7. 

These  men,  and  many  more,  occupy  chairs  of  theology  in 
Protestant  universities.  Most  of  the  higher  critics  occupy  these 
chairs. 

We  often  hear  the  boast  made  that  the  viev/s  of  these  higher 
critics  concerning  the  Bible  are  now  supported  by  the  bulk  of 
Christian  scholarship  of  to-day.  What  is  Christian  scholarship  ? 
Is  that  Christian  which  refuses  to  believe  and  follow  Christ's 
teaching  ?  Can  that  be  called  Christian  which  contradicts  Christ 
either  point  blank  or  by  necessary  inference  ?  We  do  not  deny 
the  scholarship  of  the  leaders  of  higher  criticism.  They  are  very 
learned  men.  I  have  known  many  of  them  and  have  gladly 
acknowledged  the  virtues  I  have  seen  in  them.  But  I  have  never 
yet  met  or  known  a  higher  critic  of  the  first  rank,  either  in  Europe 
or  in  this  country,  who  would  not  tell  me  plainly  that  he  could  not 
believe  Christ  to  be  God.  We  have  men  in  this  country  who 
occupy  chairs  in  Protestant  theological  seminaries  who  teach  this 
higher  criticism ;  some  deny  in  toto  the  deity  of  Christ,  and 
others,  without  courage  for  their  convictions,  never  teach  what 
Christ  taught,  that  He  is  God,  but  only  teach  his  human  nature. 
Can  these  be  fairly  called  Christian  scholars?  Is  the  most 
learned  man  a  Christian  simply  by  reason  of  eating  the  bread 
supplied  by  Christians  and  occupying  a  chair  founded  and  sup- 
ported by  Christians  ?  Say  there  are  one  hundred  higher  critical 
scholars  in  the  world ;  how  many  just  as  good  scholars  faithful  to 
Christ  are  there  in  the  140,000  ministers  in  the  pulpit  in  the 
United  States  ? 

Real  higher  criticism  of  the  Old  Testament  plants  itself  firmly 
in  another  position.  It  absolutely  refuses  to  regard  as  worthy  of 
consideration  Christ's  teaching  concerning  the  Old  Testament, 
because,  as  they  say,  Christ's  teaching  is  diametrically  opposed  to 
their  views.  (^See  note  at  the  end.')  Kuenen  says  :  "  We  must  either 
cast  aside  as  worthless,  our  dearly-bought  scientific  method  or 
must  forever  cease  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of  the  New  Test- 
ament in  the  domain  of  the  exegesis  of  the  Old.  Without  hesita- 
tion we  accept  the  latter  alternative."    Prophets,  p.  487.    Professor 

12 


Strack,  of  Berlin,  who  claims  to  belong  to  the  Evangelicals,  says : 
"  As  regards  the  passages  from  the  New  Testament  we  must 
protest  against  their  use  for  the  two-fold  reason  that  if  they  prove 
the  Mosaic  authorship  all  other  proofs  are  superfluous  and  a  dero- 
gation from  the  authority  of  our  Lord ;  and  that  the  use  of  such 
proofs  removes  the  whole  question  from  the  historical  and  critical 
domain."  Schaff-Herzog  Encyl.,  p.  1791,  And  Professor  Gunkel, 
of  Berlin,  who  also  calls  himself  Evangelical,  says  :  "  The  objec- 
tion is  raised  that  Jesus  and  the  apostles  clearly  considered  these 
accounts  to  be  fact  and  not  poetry.  Suppose  they  did;  the  men 
of  the  New  Testament  are  not  presumed  to  have  been  exceptional 
men  in  such  matters,  but  shared  the  point  of  view  of  their  time. 
Hence  we  are  not  warranted  in  looking  to  the  New  Testament  for 
a  solution  of  questions  in  the  literary  history  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment," Legends  of  Genesis,  p.  3.  And  similarly  Professor 
Driver,  of  Oxford,  writes  an  Introduction  to  the  Old  Testament  of 
more  than  500  pages,  and  not  once  in  all  those  pages  does  he  con- 
sider Christ's  words.  Like  some  others,  he  in  his  preface  makes 
a  general  denial  that  this  higher  criticism  impugns  Christ's  teach- 
ing, and  then  proceeds  in  500  pages  to  take  Kuenen's  positions 
and  show  that  the  Old  Testament  is  not  true  as  history,  and  never 
once  quotes  Christ. 

The  main  assertions  of  what  is  now  called  higher  criticism 
against  the  Pentateuch  and  the  Old  Testament  are  nothing  new. 
They  are  precisely  the  same  that  have  been  made  by  Spinoza, 
1670,  and  by  all  the  learned  deists  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
nowhere  will  they  be  found  more  fully  and  repeatedly  stated  than 
in  Paine's  "  Age  of  Reason,"  dedicated  to  the  People  of  America 
in  1793. 

The  lines  are  plainly  drawn.  No  compromise  is  possible, 
though  voluble  compromisers  in  plenty  olifer  their  delusive  make- 
shifts. The  real  leaders  of  the  higher  criticism  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment scorn  all  compromise  and  laugh  at  the  weak,  futile  attempts 
offered  by  men  of  the  lower  ranks  in  Great  Britain  and  America. 
These  leaders  say  that  they  have  shown  the  Old  Testament  to  be 
a  purely  human  compilation  of  legends  and  myths,  and  with  the 
Old  Testament  falls  the  New  Testament  that  is  built  upon  the 
Old,  and  with  both  Testaments  passes  away  the  legend  and  myth 

13 


HIGHER 
CRITICISM 
NOT  NEW 


NO 
COMPROMISE 


of  Jesus  Christ.  If  the  higher  critics  are  right  concerning  the 
Old  Testament  there  is  no  denying  their  conclusion  about  the 
New  Testament  and  about  Jesus  Christ.  None  but  the  stupid 
would  believe  in  a  God  who  made  mistakes. 


CHRIST'S 
WORDS 
THE  TEST 


But  Jesus  Christ,  "  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and  forever," 
whose  words  and  teachings  are  God  the  Father's  words  and 
teachings,  whose  words  shall  not  pass  away  but  shall  judge  us  in 
the  last  day,  has  given  us  in  His  words  the  sure  test  of  the  "  oppo- 
sitions of  the  knowledge  (science),  which  is  falsely  so-called,  which 
some  professing  have  erred  concerning  the  faith." 

Whether  it  is  right  in  the  sight  of  God  to  hearken  unto  these 
critics  rather  than  unto  God,  judge  ye. 

To  all  who  know  Him  as  their  Saviour  and  God,  He  says : 
"If  ye  abide  in  my  word  then  are  ye  truly  my  disciples,  and  ye 
shall  know  the  truth,  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free,"  John 
8:  31,  32.  "If  a  man  love  me  he  will  keep  my  word  and  my 
Father  will  love  him  and  we  will  come  unto  him  and  make  our 
abode  with  him.  He  that  loveth  me  not  keepeth  not  my  words, 
and  the  word  which  ye  hear  is  not  mine,  but  the  Father's  who 
sent  me,"  John  15:7. 


Note  to  p.  12. — "  It  is  the  common  conviction  of  all  the  writers  of  the  New 
Testament  that  the  Old  Testament  is  inspired  by  God,  and  is  thus  invested  with 
divine  authority.  The  remark  made,  as  it  were  in  passing,  in  a  passage  of  the 
fourth  Gospel,  that  'the  Scripture  cannot  be  broken,' IChrist's  words,  John 
10: 352is  assented  to  by  all  the  writers  without  distinction.  In  accordance  with 
this  tney  ascribe  divine  foreknowledge  to  the  Israelitish  prophets.  And  far 
indeed  from  limiting  this  foreknowledge  to  generalities,  and  thus  depriving  it 
of  all  its  importance,  they  refer  us  repeatedly  to  the  agreement  between  specific 
prophetical  utterances  and  single  historical  facts,  and  have  no  hesitation  in 
declaring  their  conviction  both  that  the  prophet  spoke  of  these  specific  facts  and 
that  they,  under  God's  direction,  occurred  '  in  order  that  the  word  of  the  prophet 
might  be  fulfilled.'  It  is  unnecessary  to  support  the  statements  by  quoting  pass- 
ages ;  such  passages  are,  as  everyone  knows,  very  numerous."     *     *     * 

"  Here  then  is  at  the  very  beginning  a  first  objection  which  the  New  Tes- 
tament places  in  our  way.  Its  judgment  concerning  the  origin  and  nature  of 
the  prophetical  expectations,  and  concerning  their  relation  to  the  historical 
reality  may  be  regarded  as  diametrically  opposed  to  ours," — A'uenen,  Prophets, 
p.  448. 

14 


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BS2387  .082 
/  <4r  Christ  and  the  Old  Testament :  A  paper 

Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


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